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Updated on: 30 Aug 2011, 12:00

6

8

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

Difficulty:

95% (hard)

Question Stats:

46%(01:52) correct 54%(01:58) wrong based on 766 sessions

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Noting the success of DVDs in the marketplace, the newly opened video store Movie Tapes, which sells specialty videocassettes, began an ambitious publicity campaign to promote the sale of their tapes over more technologically advanced DVDs. After six months in business, Movie Tapes found that its sales had doubled — in fact, it had sold twice as many copies of movies on tape as all the other stores in town had sold on DVD of the same movies. Clearly, the publicity campaign was responsible for Movie Tapes' video cassettes selling better than DVDs.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

A) DVDs include special features that enhance the viewing experience.B) The local school system uses only VCRs in the classroom.C) Only a very small number of the movies the store sells are available on DVD.D) A month before the campaign began, the public library started buying videocassettes to lend.E) Neither the price of DVDs nor that of videocassettes has risen in two years.

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15 Aug 2011, 09:02

1

DVDs include special features that enhance the viewing experience. Explains the features of DVD neither support nor weakens conclusion - incorrectThe local school system uses only VCRs in the classroom. School uses VCR- no evideance to conclude that school bought movies from store - incorrectOnly a very small number of the movies the store sells are available on DVD. Premise in argument states that 'it had sold twice as many copies of movies on tape as all the other stores in town had sold on DVD of the same movies'. what if the movies sold by store are not available on DVD, in that case customer are force to by Videocassates - correctA month before the campaign began, the public library started buying videocassettes to lend. What if the library has brought all the cassates before the add compain - to much to assume hence incorrectNeither the price of DVDs nor that of videocassettes has risen in two years. answer does not affect the conclusion

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To be honest, my friend, I am not a huge fan of this question. Among other things, it seems to take for granted some American cultural background knowledge, and it's also woefully out of date. This question had to be written 20+ years ago. I don't even know how many current GMAT student have even seen a VCR tape!

Here's what I'll say about (C) & (D). C) Only a very small number of the movies the store sells are available on DVD.So, Movie Tapes has only a small number of movies on DVD. It has many more on tapes, including some that competitors have on DVD, and on these particular movies, Movie Tapes outsells its competitors. Is this also a small number of movies, the specific movies that Movie Tapes has on VCR and competitors have on DVDs? We don't know. Did those competitors have those movies just on DVD, or did the competitors also have the VCR versions of those movies? We don't know. Is there a preference in that town for VCR? If people there have a choice, do they go out of their way to get a copy of a movie on a VCR, rather than on a DVD? That's possible, and that certainly would weaken the answer, but this is tenuous at best. (C) is not logically tight as an OA--it could work, but it's not a clear winner.

(D) A month before the campaign began, the public library started buying videocassettes to lend.OK, great. Where are they buying the VCR tapes? Is the library buying them from Movie Tapes, or it is buying them from, I don't know, some Library Supply House that provides materials to libraries at cheaper costs? In American culture, it would be highly unusual for a public library to buy books or other materials from businesses in town hoping to sell these materials at a profit. Libraries tend to get their supplies from state agencies or non-profit sources. Of course, there is no way the GMAT would expect non-Americans to have this kind of detailed knowledge of how American public libraries function. This answer is incorrect because the place of purchase is not specified, but this would be far more obvious to someone who grew up in America.

As someone who writes questions professionally, I would give this question a grade of an F. The premise is interesting, although a little out of date, but the question is poorly designed, and there's no rigorous right answer. Sometimes, the questions that generate endless discussion and debate on GMAT Club are the poorly written questions--there's a lot to debate, precisely because the question is fundamentally unclear.

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30 Jul 2018, 03:13

1

bschool83 wrote:

Noting the success of DVDs in the marketplace, the newly opened video store Movie Tapes, which sells specialty videocassettes, began an ambitious publicity campaign to promote the sale of their tapes over more technologically advanced DVDs. After six months in business, Movie Tapes found that its sales had doubled — in fact, it had sold twice as many copies of movies on tape as all the other stores in town had sold on DVD of the same movies. Clearly, the publicity campaign was responsible for Movie Tapes' video cassettes selling better than DVDs.

Which of the following, if true, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

A) DVDs include special features that enhance the viewing experience.B) The local school system uses only VCRs in the classroom.C) Only a very small number of the movies the store sells are available on DVD.D) A month before the campaign began, the public library started buying videocassettes to lend.E) Neither the price of DVDs nor that of videocassettes has risen in two years.

To cast doubt on the argument’s conclusion, we should tr y to undermine the assumption(s) linking it to the evidence. In this case, the author seems to be assuming that the only reason for the store’s success is its publicity campaign. Choice (C) undermines this assumption, by suggesting that Movie Tapes has succeeded because it sells movies not available in DVD format.

Choice (A) would make DVDs more attractive, but would not provide an alternate explanation (other than the publicity campaign) for Movie Tapes’ sales success. Thus it is incorrect.

Choices (B) and (D) suggest that the school system and the library, respectively, are potential buyers of videocassettes, but we don’t know that either of them alone could account for Movie Tapes’ tremendous sales, or that they bought only from Movie Tapes.

Choice (E) neither strengthens nor weakens the argument, and so is irrelevant to this argument.
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